Garden History & Growing Practices

The Olympia Kiwanis Club started raising vegetables for donation in 1990 at the West Side Garden. In 2010 two new gardens were added, one on Friendly Grove Rd NE, and the other on the Capitol Campus, for a total of 1 ½ acres of growing space. Today, we raise vegetables on 2 acres, with Calliope Farm being our latest garden site addition. Olympia Kiwanis has land-use agreements with the property owners and the State of Washington to use the land for no cost.

Olympia Kiwanis began partnering with the Thurston County Food Bank in 2010 to provide a paid staff position to support garden production. In 2014, three summer positions were added to the program to help with summer work. Planning and financial support for the Gardens are provided by The Olympia Kiwanis Foundation and Club. In 2018 a Gardens Coordinator position was added to assist with garden management.

As a primarily volunteer-run project the Gardens depend on the support from Olympia Kiwanis members, hundreds of individuals, dozens of groups and churches, local colleges, High School agriculture programs, elementary schools, retirees, and State employees.

Growing Practices

Although the gardens are not certified organic, we use organic practices to raise vegetables. At the end of the season we evaluate the years’ production, assess which crops we will grow the next year, decide on crop rotation, and create the farm plan for the following season.
 

We grow crops that are otherwise inaccessible to the Food Bank and are highly used by the Food Banks’ diverse clientele. Our favorite crops to grow include cabbage, carrots, and string beans. We also grow crops specifically for the ForKids Program including snap peas, sweet peppers, and baby carrots. 

If you would like to discuss best practices for your Food Bank Garden, you can call or e-mail Don Leaf or Mackenzie McCall, and/or join the Food Bank for their annual Grower’s Meeting.